Beverly Hill Benz offered 11K off one bluetec on lot. Long beach Benz offered 11.4K off any bluetec on lot. Penske (west covina) benz offered 11.45K off any bluetec on their lot. I bought from Penske since it is the most close to home. Sales was great, no trick, simple straight transaction. Done all negotiation by email/phone, finish paperwork on site.

I used to live in Southern California back in the '90's. Penske is a big dealership organization and usually can beat most any deal in the area. I leased a '91 300E from Mercedes of San Diego and serviced it at Penske when I moved to Los Angeles. Good service department.

Enjoy your new Bluetec - you got a great deal, in my opinion considering that 2014's won't be out until August/September.

MSRP is 68360 and the best quote I have received from a dealer for this custom order is $63340 which includes a USAA discount. I'm not sure what others are doing to get better deals but for some reason this is the best I've been able to get. Going to try to shop around a bit more, but I'm close to pulling the trigger for this price.

Good thing you are not in my area looking for 2011s. My local dealer tried to sell me a 2011 E350 4Matic with 11,000 miles for $52,600. Considering he later offered me a new 2014 for $57,000, I had to laugh. I may be blonde, but I am not that dumb.

Ok, so I think I have finally decided on what I am going to custom order:

First of all, the USAA pricing will probably improve by the time your ordered car arrives (6-8 weeks from date of order). Right now, USAA is offering a $1500 off MSRP price, which is probably going to improve to something below invoice. My dealer sold me my car at $1500 under invoice + another $1000 for MBCA certificate for a total of $2500 under invoice + 2 maintenance services (1 A service and 1 B service). But I buy a new car from the dealer every year.

Secondly, in 6-8 weeks, the 2014 Sedans will be discounted deeper.

I would not agree to a final price until the car arrives. Is your dealer requiring a deposit to order the car for you? Most dealers will order a car from their allocation without a deposit - but I would not give him more than $500 which he must agree can be refundable to you - contingent on final pricing to your satisfaction.

So long as you know what you want - order it but contingent on the USAA pricing at the time of delivery. Good luck - sounds like a nice car.

Mine is equipped with leather because I ordered it with ventilated seats which is a must down here in south Florida.

but I would not give him more than $500 which he must agree can be refundable to you - contingent on final pricing to your satisfaction.

Great tip! Most dealers, including this one, have been asking for a $500 deposit, but I never thought to ask if it was refundable. I just assumed it was gone if I didn't agree to buy the car.

So it looks like the USAA discount was much better for the 2014's when you ordered your car. Looking at your older posts I see that you ordered in February. I wish I had ordered then too!

The current USAA discount sounds relatively bad. I did some digging into the older posts in this thread and from the looks of it, the discounts seemed to be better at the same time last year. I am hoping the discounts are much better in a couple of months when the car is actually delivered.

I actually kept flip flopping between the Iridium/Black & Black/Beige. But finally decided to go with the latter as I used to own a Silver car before and want something different this time. Chose MB Tex over Leather because a few forum posts hinted that it was easier to maintain than leather...and its cheaper. But ventilated seats sound nice...I might regret not getting that option one warm day but I didn't feel it would be worth it for the relatively fewer warm days we get up here in Virginia. But I do a lot of long distance driving so I am really looking forward to Distronic Cruise Control!

Great tip! Most dealers, including this one, have been asking for a $500 deposit, but I never thought to ask if it was refundable.

I think you misunderstood what I said. The USAA pricing is the same now as it was when I took delivery - $1500 under MSRP. But because I am a very good customer at my dealership, they sold me the car for invoice and then applied the $1500 incentive for USAA pricing. Then, they took another $1000 off for my Mercedes Benz Club of America.

You have to understand something about how these discounts are applied:

These are both FLEET DISCOUNTS. That means that the dealership receives $1500 from MBUSA for the USAA coupon i submitted and another $1000 from MBUSA for the MBCA coupon. The dealership gets his money in the form of a "credit" from the manufacturer. USAA and MBCA give nothing to the dealership. These are discounts offered by the manufacturer for membership in the MBCA and USAA.

So, as you can see, if you can find a dealership willing to sell you a car at invoice,and then apply the fleet discounts, it brings the sale price below invoice.

From your post, it sounds like the dealership taking $5000 off MSRP. He will then receive $1500 as a credit from MBUSA. Do he is actually selling you the car at $3500 below MSRP, which, for many customers/buyers, is a good price.

I've read on this forum that some posters bought their 2014's for $7000+ below invoice - a price even I can 't negotiate with my dealership. And those posters claim they don 't qualify for MBCA discounts or USAA pricing. So take it for what it's worth. Just remember that a 2014 (which Mercedes just released 6 weeks ago) discounted $3500 off MSRP is a very good price. But I do believe that by the time hour car arrives, USSA pricing could be $2500 below invoice.

I hope this helped you understand fleet discounts and how they work. The are completely different than incentives.

So it looks like the USAA discount was much better for the 2014's when you ordered your car. Looking at your older posts I see that you ordered in February. I wish I had ordered then too!

The USAA pricing is effective as of the day you buy the car, not the day you order the car. So, you cannot apply the USAA pricing to your new car until it is paid for.

As an example, the USAA pricing has been $1500 since April 20th. But, in July, when you get your car, it will have changed, usually for the better. Thus, you print out your USAA certificate the day you buy the car and that pricing will be as of that day, not as of the day you ordered the car.

The same is true when you lease. Residuals and money factors are as of the day you lease the car, because residuals change and so do interest rates.

My doctor is going to order a 2014 S Class for delivery in October/November when his current lease is up. All you can do is negotiate the cap cost of the vehicle at the time you order it. But money factors and residuals won't be known until he takes delivery so he does not know what the final cost of his monthly payments will be until the delivery date.

I hope this helped you understand fleet discounts and how they work. The are completely different than incentives.

You gave me some extremely helpful info...very much appreciated!

I also confirmed with my dealer that the deposit is refundable. Going to order this week with an estimated late July delivery! Hoping that the USAA discount improves significantly by then. I can't wait either way.

Great info here everyone. My buddy is going to buy a 2014 550 and we're torn on whether to order or buy something on the lot. Any opinions on what kind of discounts we can expect going with something on the lot versus ordering? In my opinion we can get a heavier discount on something already in stock but then again the car is still a bit new and fresh keeping pricing up a bit. I think $7500 off MSRP a 550 on the lot is quite good with $6000 off coming in as a solid deal. Anything less and it's average at best.

abacomike thank you very much for weighing in. I've been reading all your E350 posts, and you're certainly a man with his finger on the pulse. I really appreciate your opinion.

Later today I'll be looking at a CPO E350 4Matic, Steel Grey, P1 Package, 20.5k miles, and as far as I'm aware there's nothing included over and above P1. I'll know how clean it is once I see it, and opening price I'm being quoted is $40k.

Do you know what sort of Price the 1 or 2 year extended warranty should be, and does this vary dependent upon location? I figure we'll likely be interested in that should this work out. I recently got quoted around $1,500 for 1yr and $2,500 for 2 year on another vehicle at another location. Presumably, this is negotiable?

I'll know how clean it is once I see it, and opening price I'm being quoted is $40k...

The CPO means "certified pre-owned" and that is why I quoted you what I did. I am now assuming the car is not certified since you are looking for an extended warranty.

A CPO is warranted for 5 or 6 years and up to a total mileage on the odometer of 100,000 miles. Extended warranties through Mercedes Benz (that's the only warranty I would buy) is negotiable with the deal. Now, you are up to 43 - 45 K for a 2011. I would insist that the dealer certify the car through Mercedes Benz and I would pay no more than $42,000 for the car. See what he says.

Reason I was asking about extended warranty was that we were considering keeping the car 5-10 years, so figured the 2 year 135,000 extended warranty was the way to go, as the 5yr 100k CPO warranty ends 10/2015, thoughts?

Asking price is $40k. Thoughts on what would be a good deal including the 2 year extended warranty (quoted $2,800 on that)? Should we be concerned regarding the accident?

For a few thousand more, you can get a new one - something you can keep for 10 years! Try for a 2013 - they are discounting them $10,000+!

You want a car that is CLEAN with no accident history.

abacomike, thank you for confirming our thoughts. We thought about it last night and decided it wasn't for us, accident and all. We previously considered a new 2013, but weren't sure it was worth the stretch. I'm going to have a look around and see if there's anywhere somewhat close that still has a 2013 left that would fit our needs, and also keep looking out for a good CPO. Many thanks again.

Luxury model will ride softer, tires will wear better. I wouldn't go any higher than $40,000 including Mercedes extended warranty for the longest term and mileage. See what they say. If they are willing to warrant the car for the 7 year long mileage term, I might give them $41-$42 K.

So long as it is a clean car - no damage, good tires and service history.

my msrp for 2014 luxury e350 is coming in at 65000 even. looks like with usaa, people are able to get about 5k off msrp? is that about the best? what did you get? if in extended philly area and got a good deal with someone and you can provide the dealership/salesguy, let me know.

the only option i'm confused on is LED pkg. literature mentions that it has the "curve" ability, and of course the auto highbeams which i don't care about. is that it? or is there more than just the curve ability? are there more LED lights around the car, different light styling. literature also mentions LED ambient lighting inside, but doesn't mention if it is standard or not. just looking for a comprehensive list (or what you know) of differences in lights if i buy LED package. thanks!

my msrp for 2014 luxury e350 is coming in at 65000 even. looks like with usaa, people are able to get about 5k off msrp? is that about the best?

Some previous posters claimed they got $7K or $8K below invoice with no USSA or other incentives or fleet discounts. That would be $3,000 to $4,000 below invoice - somewhat suspicious on a brand new 2014 E350. I had USSA and MBCA fleet pricing and I bought mine for $58,000 (MSRP was $64,850).

Remember, MBUSA reimburses the dealer for the $1500 USAA fleet pricing, so you should be able to get it for $1000 - $1500 under invoice. There are volume dealers who might be willing to take a deal like that.

As for Lighting Package, I have that. It gives you curve illumination, cornering lights (at a turn with directionals on), adaptive high beam assist (you leave hi beams on all the time and the sensors automatically go to low beams if you get behind a car at night or if it senses oncoming lights. It also gives you "full" LED lighting on the front which the standard model does not. LED headlights are standard, but not full LED's.

Perimeter lighting is standard inside the car with a choice of three colors - light blue LED's, or pastel pink or yellow/white.

my msrp for 2014 luxury e350 is coming in at 65000 even. looks like with usaa, people are able to get about 5k off msrp? is that about the best? what did you get? if in extended philly area and got a good deal with someone and you can provide the dealership/salesguy, let me know.

I think you are referring to my post about being only able to get $5k off MSRP for a 2014 E350 Sport. But as abacomike pointed out, the final price will be decided when the car is actually delivered, which will be 6 to 8 weeks from now. The current USAA discount expires on July 1st, so there should be a better discount after that, and hopefully it is off the Invoice price and not the MSRP like it is currently. Currently the USAA discount is only $1500 off the MSRP. Looks like my dealer is giving me their own discount of $3k before tacking on the USAA discount. I'm hoping that if someone else is getting better deals they will post on the forum soon.

My recommendation is to look in the NY/NJ area around NYC...they seem to sell a higher volume of cars in that area and you might be able to find better deals there.

If you are custom ordering, something to keep in mind - I just put in my order this week and my dealer notified me that the panoramic sunroof and the standard sport 18" wheels are backordered right now with no concrete ETA. Luckily, they already had a car with pano roof in their order queue which they were able to modify for me. But I had to switch to the AMG 18" wheels so that I could still keep an early August delivery date. Not complaining though...as IMO these wheels look a lot better than the standard